A London weekend
Settling back into London, I've been trying to keep myself as active as possible. One of my worst tendencies in this city is to lapse into laziness, caused by always being slightly overtired, stressed and - well, just lazy about travelling more than a mile from my front door. But this time around, I'm determined to make more effort to keep work and life in balance and actively seek out and take part in new events and venues.
On Friday night we treated ourselves to a good St John dinner, followed by pints in the pub with friends. Saturday was more active, with a frustrating (as usual) shopping trip to buy myself a wardrobe of worksafe clothing to replace the ragged t-shirts and cut-off shorts which a year in Alabama has left me with. In the evening we went to the Reclaim the Beach party on the Thames foreshore beneath Charing Cross bridge. Much fun was had by all dancing away, drinking and beachcombing by moonlight (or rather, the glow of the streetlights) for Roman pipes. The sheer novelty of an event in London that was outdoors, free and semi-legal but police-tolerated was heartening somehow, giving me a little more hope that the return to expensive, restrictive city living may be bearable if more spontaneous and unusual events like these happen.
Sunday, we went, in my newfound passion for church-going, to Evensong at St Pauls! [Note to readers: I'm not a born-again Christian, don't worry. I skip over mumbling the Creed but join in wholeheartedly with the hymns for the novelty of actually singing in public.] The service was classic and soothing, with full sung Responses and good readings to meditate upon. I hope they never stop using the King James Bible for Anglican services. We were also lucky enough to catch the Admission of new choristers to the choir - six tiny, cleanfaced, angelic little boys all dressed up in their robes, being inducted by the Dean and Headmaster of the cathedral school - incredibly cute.
Then it was up to Camden to go on my first adventure into seeking out American music in London town - at "http://www.comedownandmeetthefolks.co.uk/"Come down and meet the folks"> at the Fiddler's Elbow pub. It was pretty fun - the people who were playing for the 6-8pm live set were more alt-country than what I am really looking for to get into (old-time/blues/cajun/swing) but still, it was great to hear live music and check out what the scene was like. Back for a quick local meal and into bed.
On Friday night we treated ourselves to a good St John dinner, followed by pints in the pub with friends. Saturday was more active, with a frustrating (as usual) shopping trip to buy myself a wardrobe of worksafe clothing to replace the ragged t-shirts and cut-off shorts which a year in Alabama has left me with. In the evening we went to the Reclaim the Beach party on the Thames foreshore beneath Charing Cross bridge. Much fun was had by all dancing away, drinking and beachcombing by moonlight (or rather, the glow of the streetlights) for Roman pipes. The sheer novelty of an event in London that was outdoors, free and semi-legal but police-tolerated was heartening somehow, giving me a little more hope that the return to expensive, restrictive city living may be bearable if more spontaneous and unusual events like these happen.
Sunday, we went, in my newfound passion for church-going, to Evensong at St Pauls! [Note to readers: I'm not a born-again Christian, don't worry. I skip over mumbling the Creed but join in wholeheartedly with the hymns for the novelty of actually singing in public.] The service was classic and soothing, with full sung Responses and good readings to meditate upon. I hope they never stop using the King James Bible for Anglican services. We were also lucky enough to catch the Admission of new choristers to the choir - six tiny, cleanfaced, angelic little boys all dressed up in their robes, being inducted by the Dean and Headmaster of the cathedral school - incredibly cute.
Then it was up to Camden to go on my first adventure into seeking out American music in London town - at "http://www.comedownandmeetthefolks.co.uk/"Come down and meet the folks"> at the Fiddler's Elbow pub. It was pretty fun - the people who were playing for the 6-8pm live set were more alt-country than what I am really looking for to get into (old-time/blues/cajun/swing) but still, it was great to hear live music and check out what the scene was like. Back for a quick local meal and into bed.
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